Education

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• J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law, 1974

• B.S., University of Tennessee, 1971

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Admissions

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• United States Supreme Court, 1988

• State of Tennessee, 1975

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 1987

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 1996

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 1975

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama, 1993

• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 1999

• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 2008

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, 2008

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2008

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, 2016

• U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky, 2017

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Practice 

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• Government Investigations and Compliance

• Civil Rights/Government

• Internal Investigations

• Healthcare

• White Collar Criminal Defense

• Civil and Criminal Investigations

• Civil and Criminal Litigation

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Representative Client Work

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• Representation of the Chattanooga City Mayor.

• Defended Chattanooga police officers in civil litigation.

• Negotiated the largest criminal settlement in the history of the Eastern District of Tennessee in the $92 Million Pilot Flying J Corporation Case.

• Directed and assisted in the mediation of a $42 million-dollar health care fraud case of a medical equipment company.

• While serving as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee investigated and intercepted a shipment of nearly 70 counterfeit airbags from a Chinese manufacturer. The parts were originally thought to impact one U.S. manufacturer, but the investigation revealed that they impacted multiple manufacturers. Efforts resulted in investigations and/or prosecutions in 30 federal districts within the U.S. and on four continents.

• Investigated and convicted two former engineers of stealing trade secrets from their previous employer, an American multinational tire manufacturer. Defendants had traveled to the manufacturing plant to service equipment and took photos of client’s devices with the intent to replicate them on their own. Both were convicted and served prison sentences.

• Successfully indicted and convicted a former supervisor and employee of a federally owned utility company for falsifying electrical connections to the containment area of a nuclear plant.

• Investigated and directed the prosecution of cases of national security interest, including but not limited to, foreign national scientists who were trying to sell nuclear secrets from a U.S. utility company to China.

• Implemented a secret detection system, the bottle tracking program devised by Purdue to detect opioids being robbed from pharmacies. I worked with Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Robin Abrams of Purdue Pharma for several years. This detection system was responsible for the detection and successful prosecution of several armed robberies of pharmacies throughout east Tennessee. During my tenure as United States Attorney, there was substantial reduction in opioid robberies of pharmacies due to this program. We were one of the pioneer US Attorney districts to implement the program. Robin Abrams coordinated and monitored the program with my office.

• Selected as the first full-time Assistant District Attorney for seven counties in Southeast Tennessee. Tried many criminal jury and non-jury cases and proceedings, involving violent crimes and white-collar crimes.

• Lead or sole counsel on several hundred civil and criminal jury trials, non-jury trials and matters in numerous states, federal jurisdictions and appellate courts.

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Honors and Awards

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• Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys, Tennessee

• Tennessee Bar Foundation, Fellow

• Mid-South Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense

• National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys (NAFUSA)

• Nominated as Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year by the Southeast Tennessee Legal Services

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Recent Publications

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• Won’t Back Down – The Journey from Small Town Tennessee to Presidentially Appointed United States Attorney

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Professional Accomplishments

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• Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys, Tennessee

• Tennessee Bar Foundation, Fellow

• Mid-South Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense

• National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys (NAFUSA)

• Nominated as Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year by the Southeast Tennessee Legal Services

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Professional Associations

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• American Inns of Court, Brock-Cooper Chapter

• American Bar Association (White Collar Crimes Section)

• Tennessee Bar Association, Member; House of Delegates, 2003-2010

• National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys

• Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association 1982-1996

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Community Involvement

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• The University of Tennessee Knoxville Alumni Association Board of Governors

• Chattanooga Area Red Cross Board, 2008-2010

• Tennessee Army National Guard, 1970-1973

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References

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• James E. Hall – Former Director of the National Safety Board
  Hall and Associates, LLC
  233 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Suite 200
  Washington, DC 20003
  jhall@hallassoc.net
  (423) 877-3126 – Home
  (202) 312-0600 – Office

• Robert P. Cooper, Jr. – Former Tennessee Attorney General, 2006-2014
  Bass Berry and Sims
  3907 Kimpalong Drive
  Nashville, TN 37202
  cooper57@msn.com
  (615) 742-7768

• Ed Stanton – Former United States Attorney, Western District of Tennessee
  167 N Main Street, Suite 800
  Memphis, TN 38103
  edstanton06@gmail.com
  (901) 734-7222

• Aubrey Harwell – Current Practicing Lawyer in Nashville, Tennessee
  1201 Demonbreun Street, Suite 1000
  Nashville, TN 37203
  aharwell@nealharwell.com
  (615) 244-1713

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